Texas Pastor Electrocuted During Baptism

[Lochloosa]

WACO, Texas (AP) -- A pastor performing a baptism was electrocuted inside his church Sunday morning after adjusting a nearby microphone while standing in water, a church employee said.

The Rev. Kyle Lake, 33, was stepping into the baptistery as he reached out for the microphone, which produced an electric shock, said University Baptist Church community pastor Ben Dudley.

Water in a baptistery usually reaches above the waist, said Byron Weathersbee, interim university chaplain at Baylor University.

Lake was pronounced dead at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, nursing supervisor Pat Mahl said. The woman being baptized apparently had not stepped into the water and was not seriously injured.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PASTOR_ELECTROCUTED?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-10-31-00-42-41

God has spoken....

On Edit: I did not mean to insinuate that this was funny. As an electrician, I like to try and make people aware just how dangerous electricity can be.

[skooooo]

1. yikes that's weird!

[Dhalgren]

2. The irony is just too immense...can't type...

[sakabatou]

59. Yeah

[Radio_Lady]

103. I stuck a fork into a toaster to fish out a piece of toast --

Electricity threw me across the room and I landed against the far wall. I was eight years old.

This pastor was not so lucky -- when he gets to the Pearly Gates, wonder what will happen?

What a terrible memory for the woman who was being baptized and the families of both people.

I'm married to an electrical engineer -- so I've heard a lot of stories about WATTS and VOLTS. This one takes the SPARKLING cake...

In peace,

Radio_Lady

[Blue_Tires]

3. biting my tounge......

so hard it's bleeding

[kurth]

4. Praise Jesus?

To protect against electrical hazards, do not immerse object in water.

[MarsThe Cat]

5. but does it qualify him for the Darwin's??

i would think that any church-related deaths should be given extra points for irony.

btw- was the baby named Damien by any chance?

[GrpCaptMandrake]

72. Definitely Darwin material

and it wasn't a baby being baptized.

In Fundie-world, people of all ages get baptised all the time. The SoBapCon will even make a person get RE-baptized if they're coming from a different denomination, especially one that baptizes babies, before the "age of accountability."

Really.

No kidding.

They're just that weird.

[no name no slogan]

83. Not just fundies...

Many evangelical churches do adult baptisms, too, for people that have accepted Jesus into their lives.

Not all evangelicals are conservative or fundies, btw. There's a large group of liberal evangelicals, but they usually don't make headlines by being complete asses of themselves, like the conservatives do.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

85. But generally speaking

Liberal evangelicals don't force people to be re-baptised, do they?

[no name no slogan]

86. Nobody "forces" anybody to be baptised

It is a symbolic gesture by the "baptisee" to symbolize her/his rebirth into a new faith. It is a public committment by the baptisee to live her/his life as a person of faith, and to be reborn as a Christian.

It is not a requirement of any evengelical church to undergo adult baptism. However, baptism is an integral part of the Baptist church, and is generally not done until the baptisee is able to make the choice her/himself (i.e., no infant baptisms, as the infant is not capable of making a conscious committment to her/his faith).

[GrpCaptMandrake]

89. Well enough

But I have personal experience with people being told they couldn't becme members of a SoBapCon church w/o being re-baptised. Fact. Not conjecture. For instance, a woman who, as an adult, was baptised Methodist was told she had to get dunked again to be part of the SoBapCon church in question. Her adult Methodist baptism wasn't good enough.

[Shell Beau]

90. Well there are exceptions to every rule! I have never

known that to happen to any of the Baptists I know (and I know LOTS) and I live in the Bible Belt (Mississippi)

[no name no slogan]

92. That sounds about right

I attended a Baptist church as a child (I believe it was SBC, but I don't know for sure). I was baptised as an infant in the Catholic church, but the Baptists wanted to re-immerse me when I was of age to make that decision.

Here's what the SBC's website has to say about the subject (emphasis mine):

VII. Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper.

Nothing in their about it having to be a "Baptist" baptism, but I would assume that's what they mean, as baptism confers church membership on the believer, much as confirmation does in other Protestant faiths.

[Shell Beau]

88. Being baptized is a decision the person makes who is getting

baptized. It is encouraged but not forced. So, how was he forced?

[GrpCaptMandrake]

93. "She," not "he"

was simply told that she would not be welcome in the church any longer if she was not re-baptised. She also couldn't continue to teach Sunday school, work in the church kitchen on Wednesday nights, or go on hospital or shut-in visitation. This, after about twenty years doing same.

Again: she had been baptised as an adult at an American Baptist church in another state.

[Maine-ah]

96. I come from a background of 1 catholic parent and 1 christian science

they both decided to let us kids figure it out when we wanted to. My father said he'd never step foot in a catholic church again. My grandmother (his mother) would corner my mother at the house all the time and question whether or not she had us kids baptised yet. She did the same thing to my sister when she had her daughter. My sister said "yes I did, I sent you an invitation, and you didn't come!"

I have been completely turned off from religion, not because of my parents, but because of all the harm that I have seen it do to families, friends, and the world.

I have been told I am a sinner, and I am going to hell, and thats just the minor things that have been said to me. I keep telling them, nope, you're wrong. I'm actually going to be in limbo, since I was never baptised.

Now, on that note, I don't find this amusing because of the religiousness, but the fact that someone could do something so stinking stupid. It is right up there with the Darwin Awards.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

98. Leave it to a Mainer

to boil it all down to plain old fashioned common sense! Go Maine!

:toast:

[Maine-ah]

101. I will drink to that one, and then I'll have another!

:toast: :toast:

[GrpCaptMandrake]

106. Ah'll join yuh

in a cold, crisp hahd ci-dah! Eh!

:toast: :toast: :toast:

[Maine-ah]

108. well, now it looks like a party!

:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast:

[GrpCaptMandrake]

110. Easy they-uh!

Gotta stay a little sob-eh. Show starts in two hours!

[Maine-ah]

111. well, on my way home now, don't worry though, my husband is

driving!

Have a good night!

[GrpCaptMandrake]

113. and good beverages!

A pleasure clinking glasses with you!

[saigon68]

6. Electricity and Water (Not the best of friends)

LOL

[GrpCaptMandrake]

95. Not even "holy" water, since electricity's pretty secular n/t

[Nikki Stone 1]

7. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away

God is even money on life and death. That's why those "God is pro-life" stickers are so silly.

[jazzjunkysue]

8. Just a little Texas style Shock and Awe

"Gimme the microphone. Give it to me!"

[Radio_Lady]

105. Gawd, that is funny, jazzjunkysue! You get my award for the best guffaw

of the day!!

In peace,

Radio_Lady

[Gato Moteado]

9. why do you need a microphone at a baptism?

nt

[bertha katzenengel]

21. so the congregation can hear the prayer

it's common

[GrpCaptMandrake]

99. And the congregation needs to hear the prayer why?

Didn't Yeshua ben Yusef the brown-skinned Palestinian carpenter say something about people who prayed loudly, so others would hear them? Didn't he say something about "they have their reward?" Or is that orange sunshine kicking in again?



"What does God need with a starship?" /Capt. Kirk off

:wtf:

[Shell Beau]

100. Why are you trying to turn this into a Biblical lesson?

And why do you continuously use this saying "Yeshua ben Yusef the brown-skinned Palestinian carpenter". We know Jesus was a Jew (brown skinned) and we know He was a carpenter.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

104. Gosh!

Who's "trying" to do anything? I'm merely pointing out that the subject of people praying "so others can hear them" has already been covered.

I don't call him "Jesus" mainly because that wasn't his name.

Sorry to offend.

[Shell Beau]

107. I'm not offended, but this isn't about the teachings of the Bible.

This is about a man who was killed in an unfortunate accident.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

112. OK.

As Emily Litella would say: "Never mind."

Besides. We've got bigger fish to fry. (That REALLY wasn't intentional)

We've got a supreme court nominee who thinks it's ok for little 10 year old girls and their mommies to be strip-searched. The preacher's dead. But we CAN do something about all the ten year old little girls and their mommies.

[Shell Beau]

114. Yep, that I can agree on!

[Benhurst]

10. I'm shocked.

But not as much as he was.

[oneighty]

11. Wondering

Was it the sure hand of god or the fickle finger of fate?

180

[sepia_steel]

12. Woah.

What a horrible way to go. That said, wtf was a mic doing that close to the water, and WHY DID HE TOUCH IT?

[B3Nut]

24. Well, the mic shouldn't be live with respect to ground at all

The mic casing connects to chassis ground, which in a proper peice of PA gear is at ground potential. If the mixer/amplifier chassis (and thus the mic casing) is live, something is seriously amiss (poor or lifted ground, bad electrical ground in the building, or leaky power transformer). Guitar players somtetimes get zapped by vocal mics, but usually mic-shocks are a result of a poorly-grounded guitar amp, the mic's at ground but the guitar isn't...most of us musicians have gotten "bit" that way at a gig. Ground loops can be problematic too, especially in venues with sub-par wiring (more common that one would think).

If you're going to use a mic at a baptistry like that, you really should use a wireless. And no sound technician should be caught dead (pardon the pun) without a digital multimeter - they're cheap nowadays and can literally be a lifesaver.

Todd in Beerbratistan, audio nerd

[TrogL]

78. "shouldn't"

I can't remember the number of times I've been zapped by improper grounding.

What sometimes happens is there's so much power requirement that they'll plug stuff in across multiple phases of the transformer, so one area's "hot" is another area's "neutral".

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

13. is this thing on?

testing 1 2 3, testing

[kurth]

28. He was whooping and hollering

"Praise Jesus" - "Thank You Lord"

and then...

ZAP!!!

[emad]

14. Waco. Something about that place brings out the weirdest stuff.

?

[Still_Loves_John]

15. This is funny?

Good god everybody, a man died. How is this death less sad than a soldier in Iraq or a Katrina victim? We don't know who this guy was, it's not like he was some national religious leader or anything, all we know is that he's a baptist pastor, and somehow that means he deserved this? Look at yourselves.

[tx_dem41]

16. To those that find it funny, I agree with you.

[bertha katzenengel]

20. I'm with you, SLJ. It's not funny. n/t

[auntAgonist]

55. Not funny in the least, very sad. He was the father of

3 young children. He didn't deserve to die. May he Rest In Peace. I feel very sorry for his wife and family.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

97. Speaking logically and realistically

of course he deserved to die. He was human, right? All of humans "deserve to die" under fundamentalist dogma. Eve painted us all with "original sin" when she had that chat with the gossipy water mocassin. We're just eat up with sin and, after all, "the wages of sin is death." Right? Right.

What you're saying, I think is either "He didn't deserve to die THAT WAY," or maybe "He didn't deserve to die just then."

And I applaud your compassion. Shows you're a good DU'er; a good liberal.

[sweetheart]

17. "...and religion is therefore outlawed to protect you from the war"

No longer will anyone be able to use electrical religion without the
permission of the church of ben franklin.

That his prodogal son would die baptized in texas, might this preacher
attain heaven as the american idol, the image of truth, that god
is irony itself.

[kurth]

18. Well, good thing he didn't fry the woman he baptized

in front of 800 people. He will have a big funeral, and there will be a lot of reminiscing...

[sweetheart]

23. maybe she wasn't ready for god's kingdom yet

But i'll wager that convinced her to be better prepared for god.

I'm seeing a secondary market for old eletrocution machinery combined
with objects of religious worship. It could be a hit with the
hip sucicide set, like that lead singer of nirvana, had he only
a designer 40 milliong giga volt crucifix to kiss. :-)

I'm sure the man, himself, now disembodied, "knows" that it was an
act of god, his death, and that he's died in the "line of duty" the
most noble callings, an honourable death, one that should be celebrated,
a great life of choice, helping others to choose free will and god,
not to be brainwashed by the bush republicans or the loathed cynicism
of the press. That god is here now listening in silence.

[bertha katzenengel]

19. Oh, man... that sucks. :-(

How sad.

[Fox Mulder]

22. That sucks.

And the guy was young too-33. I feel bad for his family, too. He left behind a 5-year-old daughter and two 3-year-old sons who will never grow up with a father. :(

It's too bad that people forget the fundamentals in life. Water + electricity = certain death.

[KyndCulture]

25. More irony, his name was Lake?

how utterly bizarre!

[kentuck]

26. Shouldn't this be considered a "news" report ?

and be in LBN ?

[Lochloosa]

30. Mods moved it here....why?

:shrug:

[mwdem]

27. The local news report here in DFW said he dropped the mic..

he was entering the water, reached for the microphone and dropped it in the water.

[zbdent]

29. People used to think this was lightning striking down someone . . .

I wonder if he went to the "intelligent design" school of COMMON SENSE . . .

[IA_Seth]

31. Is there a reason...

Why there are a lot of freeper-ish posts on this thread mocking the dead?

Since when does being a person of faith equal a target for ridicule?

[Tyler Durden]

32. NO one is "mocking the dead"

We are "mocking" his ignorance of the common laws of electromotive force.

Can you say, "...toaster in the bathtub..."?

and besides, I think DOG can hear you WITHOUT your microphone.

[Shell Beau]

56. Well it was obviously an accident.

What is up with the "DOG" comment?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

33. Didn't anyone teach

this man about water and electricity? Didn't he ever see Carrie?

I'm sorry for his family. AND the folks in the church when this happened. It must have been awful.

[Texasgal]

46. Didn't anyone

Maybe stop and think for a second that it could have been an ACCIDENT??

Do you folks REALLY believe that the pastor didn't know not to mix water and electricity?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

52. Well of course it was an accident

but it seems to me that it was an accident waiting to happen. You don't stand in water and use a mike. Ever. Period.

[Texasgal]

54. Yeah...

I guess he was just stupid.

Kind of like the folks that didn't evacuate when Katrina hit. "it was an accident WAITING to happen. :sarcasm:

[Shell Beau]

71. I am appalled at people here who want to make it a joke or

call the guy stupid or whatever. Of course it was a dumb move, he is proof of it. He's dead now. But shit, accidents happen. We don't always use our brains. :mad:

BTW, :hi:

[Texasgal]

76. Yeah....pretty

horrible responses.....

I am pretty shocked, I guess just because he was a pastor people feel they can mock him...whatever.

:hi: to you back.

[datasuspect]

34. Pastor electrocuted while peforming baptism

darwin award candidate?

WACO — A pastor performing a baptism was electrocuted inside his church Sunday morning after grabbing a microphone while partially submerged, a worker at the church said.


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3426610

[AntiCoup2K4]

35. Was this his first baptism?

Guess it's his last in either case.

I just can't believe an experienced minister wouldn't know better. Unless he's one of the snake handler types, who figures if snakes and scorpions can't hurt him, what's a little electricity?

Cordless mic next time, pastor!

[Bouncy Ball]

41. I read the article. It wasn't his first baptism.

[DanCa]

36. The Friar got fried - ouch bad joke.

[Obamarama]

37. So is this an example of evolution or intelligent design??

Inquiring minds want to know. Sounds like survival of the fittest if you ask me. Blows the intelligent design theory out of the water, doesn't it...or in this case, out of the holy water.

[DanCa]

39. How do you make holy water?

You boil the hell out of it.

[Obamarama]

38. Delete (dupe)

[Bouncy Ball]

40. Holy shit. University Baptist, too.

HUGE church in a huge Baptist town with a huge Baptist university.

Now THAT was not a good Sunday service to attend. Cripes. In water up to his shoulders and thought it'd be a good idea to grab the freaking microphone? WTF?

He leaves a wife and three children. He was 33. 800 people witnessed it. Yikes.

[GreenPartyVoter]

42. That is horrible and just so sad. I once did something similar but lived

to tell about it. In my college dorm we had a big laundry sink in the bathroom. I washed my hands in it one time and with my left hand turned the metal faucet off and with my right (without thinking) punched the metal knob on the hand dryer. If it weren't for the fact that I had started retracting my hand as soon as I hit it and the fact we have AC instead of DC I coulda been in big trouble. :(

I have a bad history with doing stupid stuff with electricity. When I was pregnant with my first son I tried to shut off a smoke detector that went off while I was cooking. But since we had just moved into the trailer I didn't realize it wasn't battery operated but hardwired to the house so I got a bit of a zing from it when I reached up and pulled the wires out of it.

So, feel free to send me my fair share of Darwin awards.

[jmowreader]

43. Jokes about electrical shorts aren't funny

I don't see why the pastor would worry about grabbing the microphone. If everything's working right, there isn't any voltage on a microphone case.

Check it out: A microphone has three wires going to it--two signal lines and a ground. (There are two because one is polarized positive and one polarized negative. Any noise the line picks up The ground line ties to the microphone case. If it's a dynamic mike, and most church mikes are because they're more tolerant of abuse like a singer dropping it or getting thrown in a bag to take to a concert in a nursing home, no power is SUPPOSED to go to the mike. If it was a condenser running off phantom power, we're only talking 48 volts at milliamp currents going up there.

The only way I can think of that this could occur is if the 110v power in the console shorted to the console case, where the grounds to the mic jacks are connected. This would make the ground line to the mike hot, and the water in the baptismal gives a nice easy path to ground for that juice: Wall socket to console case to mic ground line into the mic case and from there through preacher into water and thence to ground. (This is how you make that famous dish Fried Preacher. Yes, I am bad.)

Stock picking tip for today: Buy lots of Nady Systems--the biggest manufacturer of wireless microphones. Every minister will want one.

[swimboy]

44. I had a near miss after I was baptized.

I felt really odd, and wondered if it was a religious experience but I was standing dripping wet on an extension cord connection.

[RedCloud]

45. Gimme that old time religion...

Totally devoid of basic science, and kapoweee.

[ScreamingMeemie]

47. From the files of matcom(tm)...HOLY cwap!

http://www.comcast.net/news/national/index.jsp?cat=DOMESTIC&fn=/2005/10/31/253516.html

snip-

WACO, Texas - A pastor performing a baptism was electrocuted inside his church Sunday morning after adjusting a nearby microphone while standing in water, a church employee said.

-snip

The Rev. Kyle Lake, 33, was stepping into the baptistery as he reached out for the microphone, which produced an electric shock, said University Baptist Church community pastor Ben Dudley.

-snip


Poor kids.

[matcom]

48. LOL! saw that on the crawl this morning

forgot to look for it in print when i got in this morning.

nice catch :thumbsup:

[ScreamingMeemie]

49. Any monies received from this post will be directly forwarded to

that Swiss bank account number that we discussed. ;)

I heard this on the news this morning and immediately thought of you. :hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

50. Kicking because this has just as much a chance of being overposted

a "brazillion" times. :hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

51. Hey. MINE was first!

:P

[woo me with science]

53. This has got to mess with the head of the woman he was baptizing...

I wonder if she thinks she is Satan's chosen now. This is too reminiscent of the Damien/Omen movies.

[Caoimhe]

57. Fried Fundy

on the menu?

[Shell Beau]

58. Not funny!

[Caoimhe]

67. Funny to me!

:evilgrin:

[Shell Beau]

70. What could you possibly find funny about a man

being electrocuted to death? A grieving family somewhere who likely witnessed it disagrees I am sure. Where is the compassion?

[GrpCaptMandrake]

73. OK, how about "ironic"

in that these fundies are all grief-stricken because their leader went ahead and suddenly took off for the heaven they can't wait to get to. And they're bummed out about it.

Nobody's laughing. Really. Especially not the electricians, who understand that electricity is conducted in water not by faith, but by the immutable laws of physics; that amperage and voltage are not questions of "intelligent design," but of scientific fact.

:dilemma:

[Shell Beau]

75. I am religious!

I am a Christian. Just b/c he was a pastor and was baptising does not make him a fundie. I still don't see the point.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

80. OK, Shell

But how about the fact that he was a "Baptist?" As a recovering Southern Baptist, myself, I can PROMISE you they're fundies, and of the worst stripe.

And how about the fact that he was "adjusting the microphone?" Which was more important, dogmatically speaking: getting the woman baptised and her soul secured or making sure the audience could hear you?

And why a baptistry in the first place? The swimming hole in a creek was good enough for Yeshua the brown-skinned Palestinian carpenter, but it's not good enough for these fundies? That tends to fall under the same heading as what Sam Kinison once said he expected to hear Yeshua ben Yusef say to Falwell: "Where the #%$! did I say to build a WATERSLIDE?"

[Shell Beau]

81. I came from a very small town. I went to a Christian school

that was predominately Baptist. They are NOT all fundies. But so what. What if he was a fundie? He made a mistake with the mic. He is dead now b/c of it and people saw it happen. This is no joking matter. I am sure if it were a loved one of yours, you'd agree.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

82. I, too, come from a small town

in Alabama, no less. And I'm in West Virginia now. And the Baptist church in which I grew up would no sooner have been political than foreswear Christ. But the church lost its way. Paid Ollie North $20-large to come and speak to them. Preached Reagan. Preached Bush. Inveighed against Clinton for his "sins." Preached Bush some more.

So I don't necessarily think it's funny. But it IS terribly, terribly (in the strictest sense of the word) ironic. And God is a god if Irony.

For the record, no loved one of mine would set himself up in a pulpit and suppose to tell others how to live. We're real, live mind-your-own-business types.

[Texasgal]

84. What is your definition of a fundie?

What? Just because he was a PASTOR he's a FUNDIE???

I thought "fundies" were people that were into extreme fundamentalist religion. Did you forget your dictionary?

If your going to use the "fundie" word, atleast know how and when to use it.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

87. I *were* one

I was raised SoBapCon. I know from fundamentalism. Literalist interpretation of the KJV. Grape juice served at communion instead of wine b/c "Jesus didn't really drink wine. That's what they called grape juice." Dinosaurs put into the fossil record "to confound the unbelievers."

Oh yeah. Been there. Done that. Got that prayer cloth.

The fundies have so thoroughly infiltrated mainstream churches that there are fundie Baptists (of course), but also fundie Presbyterians (see Coral Ridge Ministries) and fundie Catholics (See that weird-ass, anti-Vatican II church Mel Gibson attends in Malibu). Then there are the non-denominational "cult of personality" megachurches like those hateful places in Dallas, Louisville, Nashville and Colorado Springs. I like to think of them as the Tax-free Religion Industry.

Fundamentalism isn't the same as evangelicism. The former can be part and parcel of the latter, but they aren't mutually exclusive or inclusive.

I know how to use the word. I know when. And sadly, in both cases, it's far too often.

They're no different than Wahabist Muslims. Pure poison and rotten to the core.

[Texasgal]

91. Wow.

Nice blanket statement there. Point fingers much?

I am so sorry to hear that you didn't have a pleasant religious experience.

I find it deplorable, because of YOUR bad religious experience that you have chosen to mock the death of a human being. Comes off sounding quite selfish.

I just don't understand where you were able to derive fundamentalist from this story.

I am so glad to hear that you have an open mind.

So, here's the deal. I am actually quite bothered that people here are laughing and praising the death of a HUMAN BEING. I don't give a rats ass what he was... religious... fundie, whatever. The judgment and finger pointing is really worrisome. A HUMAN BEING DIED.

Fuck...

[GrpCaptMandrake]

94. You're the one who asked for the definition

I merely gave it.

And I certainly didn't "mock" anything. I said it was ironic. And it is. It's also pitiful.

Ask around. That wasn't a "blanket statement." Those are articles of faith in many fundie Religion Industry Centers. They're taught at their "seminaries."

And yes: I point fingers all the time: at Repiglicans, poisonous fundamentalists (Xtian, Muslim, Buddhist, whatever), hypocrites, faux-xtians, war-supporters and all their enablers. Danged right, I do! It's what Yeshua the brown-skinned Palestinian Carpenter would do, and that's good enough for me!

[Texasgal]

109. Well...

Your definition must be "Gold" then!

I guess your the only one that has ever had any experience with the Baptist church and fundie behavior.

*clap, clap* Good for you. Next time I want a definition, I'll PM you. Your word seems etched in stone.

[Caoimhe]

115. I admit

as a recovering Baptist I don't hold a whole lot of compassion for them. I saw and experienced things that I don't care to relive or repeat.

Sorry, I just can't conjure up a lot of care when cults lose members due to stupidity. It would be akin to someone burning a flag and then catching themselves on fire by accident. OOOOPS. Too bad.

If only I'd have been dunked in that pit below the pulpit, things might have been different....

[auntAgonist]

61. uncalled for.

not in the least bit funny at all.

[Caoimhe]

68. Funny to me!

:evilgrin: Doesn't it suck how people you disagree with are allowed to have an opinion?

[SoCalDem]

60. I guess god does work in mysterious ways

:(

[auntAgonist]

62. It occurred to me that this must have

been witnessed by his wife, maybe his children and a lot of family (church family and otherwise). I cannot imagine how frightening it must have been.

[anitar1]

63. I do not understand why he needed a microphone.

Everyone has to be broadcasting all the time these days. I thought baptism was a quiet , solemn affair witnessed by the congregation?

[auntAgonist]

65. It's done all the time..

especially in very large churches. It was an accident. Should not have happened. I remember baptisms 30 years ago where mics were used, never heard of anything like this happening.

[Taverner]

64. Don't touch electrical devices while in water

Just DON'T! OK????

Jeez - it's as if every kid didn't have a chance to play "Don't Whiz on the Electric Fence" as a kid!

[Maine-ah]

66. baptistery

kind of sounds like rotisserie.

[Name removed]

69. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Neil Lisst]

74. I think we have a winner of the Darwin Awards!!

See, the preacher didn't believe in electricity ...


If it says LIBBY'S, LIBBY'S, LIBBY'S ...

[Initech]

79. Total Darwin Award winner!

[AntiCoup2K4]

77. Yo Pastor! Ever hear of a CORDLESS mic??

I'm sure that the pastors at the church I grew up in always were on a live mic even when they were in the pool. So either it was a cordless, or they had a fixed mike aimed properly to pick up their voice. Which would still be an electrical hazard, since it would have to be close enough to the pool to fall in.

[TexasBushwhacker]

102. So was he an example of "intelligent design"?

Sorry, just had to ask.

[southlandshari]

116. Locking

Difficult story, but valid topic for discussion. The mods have let this thread run its course and have now given it a proper funeral.



How about a little trick or treating, or ghost stories now? I hear Swedish Fish are somewhere in the Lounge tonight!